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"I also take this opportunity to once again welcome you to Clark," del Rosario said during the opening of the SOM1 in Fontana Convention Center here.

"Set against the backdrop of the Pinatubo Volcano—which famously erupted in 1991 and changed the color of your sunsets for a year—Clark remains to be a model of investment and business resilience."

Clark, she said, is proud to have transformed itself from a military base to an industry hub that is backed by foreign investors.

The SOM chair also said she hopes delegates get the chance to enjoy the local hospitality, including the cuisine offered by Pampanga, considered as the culinary capital of the Philippines.

"There is indeed more to Clark than it seems," she noted.

Clark used to be the largest foreign airbase of the United States, complete with its own international airport with daily flights linking it to major cities around Asia.

Clark Air Base was named after Harold M. Clark of the US Army Signal Corps in 1919. Clark, who was born in Minnesota, US and reared in Manila, was the first American to fly in Hawaii.

Clark Field remained an Army Air Base until May 1949, when its facilities were transferred to the US Air Force. Following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, the US Air Force formally transferred Clark to the Philippine government after a century-long presence in the area.